Endless Winter: My Camp Infinite Upgrades

Chapter 544 Xia Yuyao's Surprising Appeal, the Barracks and the No-Fly Zone
"Supplies?"

Hearing Cai Qianshan's words, Xia Hong's expression didn't change much. He just looked at him quietly for a moment, and then suddenly let out two soft laughs.

"Yao'er, Sheng'er, in the three years your father has been away, you must have come into contact with a lot of things in Xia City. Do you know about the Mo Aochuan incident?"

Not to mention Cai Qianshan and the others, even Li Xuanling didn't expect that Xia Hong would ask the two children such a question at this critical juncture.

As for Xia Yuyao and Xia Yusheng, although they had been following Xia Hong since Beishuo City, they had only played the role of bystanders, staying by their mother Li Xuanling's side and focusing solely on watching.

Of course, even just watching was enough to excite two children under ten years old to the extreme.

From the moment the Xia army captured Beishuo City, through the encirclement of Wuchuan, the siege of Yangqu, and the clever capture of Donggu City, to last night's ingenious use of tunnels to thwart the allied forces' surprise attack at Aikou City, the entire process has highlighted the Xia army's strength.

If Xia Jun's unparalleled success on the battlefield merely refreshed the two men's previous understanding of Xia Jun, then the extraordinary strength displayed by their father, Xia Hong, truly gave them a great shock.

Although the siblings had lived in Xia City since childhood and had heard many things about their father, Xia Hong, from others, they had never seen him with their own eyes. In addition, compared with other Xia people, their relationship with Xia Hong was too close, so they were somewhat skeptical about these things.

In their view, their father, Xia Hong, was the lord of the Great Xia Dynasty and held a very high position in the hearts of the Xia people. It was inevitable that many people would exaggerate his abilities. Although they were young, they had a good understanding of the cultivation levels of the Ice Abyss humans. They knew that although their father was powerful, he was only at the Manifestation Yang level, which was still a step weaker than the Tribulation Body Realm of the four vassal states of Mo Ao Chuan.

That's right, Xia Yuyao and Xia Yusheng already knew about Mo Aochuan.

The fact that Mo'aochuan is located in the southern foothills is not a particularly big secret, since people from Caiqiu and Chencang have been openly active there. However, news about the four vassal states, including the regional governors and the Jie Shen realm, is relatively less public.

It was only after Da Xia established contact with Ji Hong last year and then sent Jiang Xinfan to infiltrate Chencang that they obtained a large amount of specific intelligence about the Four Feudatories.

This kind of intelligence would be difficult for others to obtain, but it wasn't so difficult for Xia Yuyao and Xia Yusheng, the two siblings.

The two had already learned the details of the Four Feudatories from their second uncle Xia Chuan and many core high-ranking officials of the Great Xia Dynasty. They also knew that their father Xia Hong had been away for three years, firstly to find the cultivation path after the Manifestation Yang level, and secondly to collect intelligence on the Four Feudatories so that the Great Xia Dynasty could prepare in advance.

“Father, I know that Mo'aochuan is our neighbor to the north. There are four major vassal states there: Chencang, Caiqiu, Hezang, and Weibo.”

All eyes were on him. Xia Yusheng was actually a little nervous, but he mustered his courage and answered his father first.

Xia Yuyao was different. Although she didn't speak, she boldly looked at Cai Qianshan, then at the six Tribulation Realm cultivators, including Cai Qiuhu, behind Cai Qianshan. She nodded slightly to Xia Hong, indicating that she knew about Mo Aochuan.

“Since we conquered Beishuo, I have been leading you all the way. You two have seen most of the people of Caiqiu. Tell your father, what are your thoughts on these powerful foreign tribes?”

No one expected Xia Hong to ask such a question.

Cai Qianshan's expression darkened slightly. He could roughly sense Xia Hong's intention: to use the two children to embarrass Cai Qiu.

However, he did not interrupt, but instead stared at Xia Yuyao and Xia Yusheng with a slightly cold look in his eyes, the threat in his eyes was very obvious.

Cai Qianshan could sense it, and so could Cai Qiuhu and the others. They sneered inwardly and focused their attention on the two children.

Their talent is indeed amazing, but they are, after all, just two greenhorns. In front of so many powerful figures, what do they dare to say?
"They are all bad people!"

Xia Yusheng's answer was unusually concise. Under the watchful eyes of many, although he was extremely nervous, he was unwilling to embarrass his father. It was clear that he had mustered his courage to give this answer.

Not satisfactory!

Upon hearing his youngest son's answer, Xia Hong mentally gave him a four-word evaluation, then turned his gaze to his eldest daughter, Xia Yuyao, with a hint of expectation in his eyes.

The eldest daughter is known for her precocious intelligence; it's evident from a young age. Her initial lack of response suggests she was already guessing my intentions, and she'll likely provide a better answer soon.

As expected, Xia Yuyao was not nervous at all; instead, a naive smile appeared on her face as she said crisply to Xia Hong, "Father, I think these people from Mo'aochuan, though powerful, disregard human life for their own selfish interests. This is strength without virtue. Knowing that the monster is watching from the shadows, they still insist on fighting against our Great Xia. This is shortsightedness and ignorance. They clearly have strength, but they hide in the back, pretending to use the two-town alliance to deal with our Great Xia. It seems like they are weakening our Xia army, but in reality, they are disgracing the prestige of the vassal states and boosting the morale of our Xia army. They are pursuing petty gains at the expense of their ambition. This is foolish and pathetic..."

After Xia Yuyao finished speaking, Xia Hong's eyes were full of excitement, and even Li Xuanling, who was standing next to her, showed a slight change in expression.

In contrast to Xia Hong and his wife, Cai Qianshan and his group were naturally the opposite.

The more they listened, the uglier their expressions became. Cai Qianshan, being a regional governor, managed to remain calm and keep his composure, but Cai Qiuhu and the others grew increasingly angry, their faces visibly turning red.

Generally speaking, people don't get angry over a few words, let alone six experts like Cai Qiuhu who are at the Tribulation Realm. The reason they are so angry is obviously because Xia Yuyao's words have hit a nerve.

People get angry because of what others say, most likely because what they said was right.

Xia Yuyao's words are undoubtedly the best summary of Cai Qiu's trip south to aid the towns of Jinshan and Wuchuan.

Crucially, she even knew about the strange and bizarre things in the Blood Miasma Plain, which clearly showed that she had done her homework in Xia City long before the battle.

Xia Yuyao hadn't finished speaking.

“Foolish and pathetic, short-sighted and ignorant, strong but without virtue, Yao’er’s view of these powerful foreign tribes is that they will either die at the hands of monsters or at Father’s hands in the future. The so-called four major vassal states of Mo’ao River will sooner or later become the territory of our Great Xia…”

"Shut up!"

"Be bold!"

"Little girl, what a big mouth you have!"

"You, a mere child, dare to..."

………………

Cai Qiuhu and the others finally couldn't hold back any longer and angrily interrupted Xia Yuyao, their auras suddenly surging, as if they were about to make a move.

Of course, they still have some sense of shame. They are all two or three hundred years old. If they lay a hand on a little girl who is not even ten years old, they would be ashamed if word got out.

"Humph!"

Xia Hong was not going to tolerate these people. Although he knew that Cai Qiuhu and the others had no intention of making a move, he still snorted coldly and then waved his sleeve, immediately releasing all thirteen Beast King-level puppets.

"My daughter is not even ten years old yet, and even she can see through your true nature, Cai Qiu. Furthermore, you can't even tolerate the words of a girl who is not even ten years old. How dare you call yourselves experts of the Tribulation Realm? Do you even deserve to come to my Southern Mountain territory to stir up trouble?"
Chencang Fangbo Chu Longteng hasn't shown up yet, hoping that Caiqiu would be at the forefront. I originally thought that Caiqiu, being on par with Chencang, would have at least a few clever people, but who would have thought they were all a bunch of fools. I thought that after last night's crushing defeat at the pass and the allied forces' camp being wrecked, you should at least have come to terms with reality, but even now, you are still stubbornly unyielding..."

Xia Hong's voice grew increasingly low, mainly because he noticed out of the corner of his eye the city of Jinyang below. Cai Qiu's more than one hundred Xianyang-level soldiers were indeed quite capable; they had already led their troops to break through the city gates, and a small group of allied soldiers had followed them as they rushed into the city.

Although Yuwen Tao had assured him that with Lin Kai personally overseeing Jinyang City, it was impossible for this remnant army to breach the city, the sounds of fighting coming from inside still made him somewhat uneasy. After all, any battle would inevitably result in casualties.

"Lord Cai, Caiqiu has been defeated, at least for now. Accept reality! From this moment on, take everyone from Caiqiu and withdraw from the southern foothills. The Great Xia will forgive everything that happened before. As for whether the two sides will fight or make peace from now on..." "Lord Xia, which eye of yours saw that we were defeated? Your Jinyang City has already been breached. The tide has turned, and the hundreds of thousands of troops you brought later are useless!"

Xia Hong completely ignored Cai Qiuhu's clamor. He stared intently at Cai Qianshan, waiting for the top expert in Caiqiu to give his answer.

Although Cai Qiuhu has the cultivation of the Tribulation Realm, he is no match for him in a one-on-one situation. If you include the Beast King-level puppet, then it's even more of a problem.

Therefore, among Cai Qiu's group, only Cai Qianshan was qualified to talk to him.

Cai Qiuhu naturally understood the meaning behind Xia Hong's disregard. His face flushed red with anger, and the refined demeanor he had maintained as a junior official vanished. He spoke out angrily:
"Xia Hong, you..."

"Shut up!"

After a long silence, Cai Qianshan finally spoke.

He waved away Cai Qiuhu, who was rushing forward, turned his head and glanced at the tens of thousands of Xia troops rapidly approaching from behind, then looked at Xia Hong and smiled: "Lord Xia, you should know that in this battle of Jinyang, I can accept either victory or defeat. Just because of your baseless threat, I am about to lead my men to retreat. What do you take me, Cai Qiu, for?"

call…………

Xia Hong let out a long sigh of relief, his eyes turning completely cold.

Cai Qianshan's meaning was clear: no matter what tricks the Xia army had up its sleeve, the people who died in this battle were not Cai Qiu's men; he was determined to continue fighting.

Even if we don't aim to deplete the Xia army's strength, we can at least fill the gaps in the Great Xia's defenses!
"In that case, there's nothing more to say."

After Xia Hong's eyes turned completely cold, he stopped talking and shouted down, "Qin Feng, Shangguan Yang, I'm giving you one last chance to choose. As long as you get your soldiers to lay down their weapons, surrender, and leave the city gates, I promise I won't treat them as enemy troops. After the southern slopes are unified, they will be able to obtain Xia citizenship just like everyone else."

There was no response after he finished speaking.

Xia Hong was not surprised at all. Since they were betting on both sides, they naturally couldn't be biased towards one side. Besides, Qin Feng and Shangguan Yang probably didn't have a choice at this moment. After all, there were only six Tribulation Realm experts behind Cai Qianshan, and the other two were obviously there to watch over the two of them.

"The army has besieged the city, preparing to wipe out this last wave of rebels and unify the southern foothills!"

The three armies behind them had already arrived.

Yuwen Tao's right wing army left no one at the pass; all nearly 40,000 men arrived. Yuan Cheng's rear wing army totaled 50,000 men. Luo Yuan's central wing army originally numbered 40,000, but an additional 10,000 men were brought by Li Yangtian from Longgu City, bringing the total to 50,000.

The three armies combined numbered a total of 140,000.

These are not just 140,000 ordinary people, but 140,000 genuine experts at the Cold Resistance level, all of whom are fully armed and exude an aura of power.

At Xia Hong's command, the three commanders immediately divided their forces into four routes, completely surrounding the city of Jinyang. Yuan Cheng, who was in charge of the south, led a portion of the elite troops from the rear army to launch a charge against the enemy forces outside the south gate.

Indeed, although the south gate has been breached, the allied forces have not yet fully entered the city; a good portion of them remain outside the gate.

Yuan Cheng's charge was like a hungry wolf entering a sheepfold. The small number of allied soldiers didn't even bother to fight back, let alone resist. They rushed frantically toward the city gate, as if only by entering the city could they hope to survive.

The south gate was only about 20 meters wide, and could only accommodate a few dozen soldiers entering the city at the same time. However, the allied forces outside the city numbered as many as 20,000. The crowding at the city gate was unimaginable.

"Let me in! Let me in! Xia Jun is attacking!"

"We can only survive if we get into the city! Let's get into the city quickly!"

"Let me in, let me in..."

………………

Roars, cries, and screams instantly filled the entire South Gate area. The allied soldiers were jostled and trampled to death by the soldiers themselves before Yuan Cheng and his troops could arrive from behind.

What's worse is that the people crowded in the city gate area showed no sign of moving forward, as if they were stuck there.

There are generally only two situations where this phenomenon occurs: either the city gate is completely blocked, making it impossible to move forward or backward; or there are too many people inside the south gate, and there is not enough space to accommodate more people, so people outside cannot enter no matter what.

I just don't know which situation it is right now!

However, the answer soon became clear to everyone.

Several beams of light suddenly rose into the sky from the city, and a Xianyang-level cultivator from Caiqiu rushed out of the south gate, his face full of panic and horror.

"Jinyang is a city within a city. The south gate is a small gate. After breaking through the south gate, there is a barbican inside, and behind the barbican is the real city gate. The Xia army just covered it up with something. We've been tricked. Run! Run! We haven't even breached the city yet..."

A barbican?

What is a barbican?

The soldiers were completely stunned when they first heard those two words.

The same was true of Cai Qiu and his group.

In fact, even the Caiqiu man who uttered the words "barbican" only learned that it was called a barbican after hearing Xia Jun mention it inside the city.

"Qiuyang, lead the men and retreat..."

"Retreat? It's too late to retreat now..."

As soon as Cai Qianshan opened his mouth, Xia Hong interrupted him with a vicious snarl.

"All troops, listen up! Lock down the skies above Jinyang and capture all the Caiqiu Xianyang-class soldiers inside the city."

"Subordinates obey orders!"

At Xia Hong's command, the army that had just surrounded the other three sides of Jinyang, as well as Yuan Cheng's army that was charging towards the south gate, immediately responded with roars.

They each took out an earth-yellow pill and swallowed it. Immediately afterwards, a heavy aura gushed out from all the soldiers.

Buzz…………

(End of this chapter)